Research

My interests involve the study of volcanic phenomena such as pyroclastic and debris flows, and their associated hazards. I am interested in the geomorphic implications of explosive volcanism, studying the topographic changes around active volcanoes that result from the emplacement of new material by pyroclastic and debris flows. Currently, I use differential GPS, GIS and computational flow modeling techniques in addition to traditional fieldwork methods. I am interested in expanding these methods to include remotely sensed data such as optical, RADAR and LIDAR, to further enhance our understanding of active geomorphic processes on volcanoes. The other focus of my research is geared towards understanding how geomorphic processes relate to volcanic hazards and the risks faced by people living near active volcanoes. Other interests include large debris avalanches and related volcanic sector collapse mechanisms, and geomorphology and hazards of non-volcanic debris avalanches and debris flows. Read on for more about aspects of my research. Click here to download a summary of my research interests. Adobe Acrobat is required

Ph.D. Research

Pyroclastic flows and lahars are common and dangerous geophysical mass-flows at active volcanoes. The behaviour of these flows is strongly influenced by the nature of the surface over which they move. A channel capable of confining a pyroclastic flow or lahar can have a significant affect of the behaviour of the flow. Changes in both space and time in the morphology of a channel can effect the behavior of flows when multiplle events are emplaced in the same channel over a short period of time. The purpose of this work was to investigate the influence of channel morphology on the behaviour of pyroclastic flows and lahars. Fieldwork done at Volcán Tungurahua, Ecuador and Volcán Irazú, Costa Rica. More information >>

M.S. Thesis

Titan2D is a code for incompressible Coulomb flow of the depth averaged, “thin-layer” type. It is used to simulate geophysical mass-flows such as debris avalanches and block-and-ash flows. The model is designed for use in developing hazard and risk analyses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the model by comparing it with the results of another flow model, FLOW3D, and with published data on the 1963 Little Tahoma Peak avalanches, from Mount Rainier, Washington State. More information >>

B.Sc. Thesis

Mount Baker is the northernmost volcano in the US Cascade range. About 5600 y B.P., a large eruption gerneated a large debris flow in the Nooksak River drainage. The Middle Fork Mudflow flowed approximately 60 km to Bellingham Bay and left behind a thick deposit all along the channel. A series of exposures from the proximal and medial regions were studied using aspects of sedimentology and stratigraphy to identify any downstream changes in clast morphology, matrix grainsize distribution, bulking and debulking factors, depositional facies and stratigraphical relationships. More information >>

Other Projects

This project was a spin-off from Part 1 of my Ph.D. Dissertation. Lithic-rich breccias have been found at or just downslope from a change in slope at several volcanoes. Using Titan2D, a series of computer simulations were run with the purpose of gaining insight into the development of these lithic-rich breecias, with a focus on the coarse litic breccias found in the pyroclastic flow deposits from the 1982 erupiton of Volcán El Chichon. More information >>

The Titan2D flow model has recently been upgraded to include two-phase flow primarily for the simulation of debris flows. For this project, a small lahar in the Vazcún Valley on the NE flank of Volcán Tungurahua, was used to evaluate the model against detailed field data that includes calculated velocities, discharge, deposit volumes and superelevations all derived from high resolution GPS data and other methods. More information >>

Changes in the nature of the surface material encountered by an avalanche during runout can significant affect its behavior. The purpose of this project was to determine if it is possible to integrate a spatially variable bed friction into the Titan2D flow model to improve the simulations of small to moderate sized debris avalanches that encounter different bed materials during runout. The 1963 Little Tahoma Peak avalanches are used as the test case. More information >>

This project was a collaborative effort with Dr. Jean-Claude Thouret and students at the University Blaise Pascal. The purpose is to investigate pyroclastic and debris flows hazards from Volcán El Misti. A combination of GPS, GIS, stratigraphic mapping and computer flow modeling are being used to unravel the historical activity of El Misti, map hazards and identify the potential socio-economic impacts on the city of Arequipa. More information >>